These 3 High-Yielding Defense Stocks Will Protect Your Portfolio As Geopolitical Tensions Worsen

As the Ukraine-Russia war progresses, and tensions between China and the U.S. escalate on the heels of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, investors may wonder how they can hedge against these geopolitical issues.

One way is to purchase these dividend-paying defense stocks:

Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin Corp. LMT is offering a dividend yield of 2.58% or $11.20 per share annually utilizing quarterly payments, with a track record of raising its dividend yield for 20 consecutive years. Lockheed Martin is the largest defense contractor globally and has dominated the western market for high-end fighter aircraft since the F-35 program was awarded in 2001.

As of the second half of 2022, Lockheed Martin has returned $1.1 billion dollars to its shareholders through share repurchases and dividend payments.

Raytheon Technologies 

Raytheon Technologies Corp. RTX is offering a dividend yield of 2.32% or $2.20 per share annually with quarterly payments, with a stellar track record of raising its dividends over the past 30 years. Raytheon Technologies is a diversified aerospace and defense industrial company with roughly equal exposure as a supplier to commercial aerospace manufacturers and to the defense market as a prime and subprime contractor.

Raytheon Technologies reported second-quarter sales of $16.3 billion dollars, up 3% from the previous year, while its backlog at the end of the second quarter was $161 billion dollars, of which $96 billion dollars was from commercial aerospace and $65 billion dollars was from defense.

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General Dynamic

General Dynamics Corporation GD is offering a dividend yield of 2.12% or $5.04 per share annually paid out quarterly, with the longest track record of raising its dividends over the past 32 years. General Dynamics is a defense contractor and business jet manufacturer operating in segments including aerospace, combat systems, marine, and technologies.

During the second quarter, General Dynamics invested $224 million dollars in capital expenditures, paid $349 million dollars in dividends, and used $800 million dollars to repurchase shares, ending the quarter with $2.2 billion dollars in cash and equivalents on hand.